Map information display device, map information display method and program

ABSTRACT

There is provided a map information display device including an operating tool detector for, on a display panel where map information MI and view image information VI are displayed, detecting a position and a pointing direction of an operating tool M in touch with an area corresponding to the map information; and a display controller for controlling display of the view image information in accordance with a view point on the map information indicated by the position of the operating tool and a line-of-sight direction on the map information indicated by the pointing direction of the operating tool.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/821,444, entitled“MAP INFORMATION DISPLAY DEVICE, MAP INFORMATION DISPLAY METHOD ANDPROGRAM”, filed on Jun. 23, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,251,722, whichclaims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Japanese Patent Application2009-159148, filed on Jul. 3, 2009, each of which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a map information display device, a mapinformation display method and a program.

Description of the Related Art

In recent years, with developments of map information applications suchas car navigation system and mapping system, map information and maprelated information have been displayed and operated in various forms.For example, there is known an application for displaying mapinformation as well as view image information in accordance with a viewpoint indicated on the map information and a line-of-sight directionwhich is a direction from the view point as map related information.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-37125

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2004-233333

[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-25041

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With this application, a user indicates a view point on the mapinformation and indicates a line-of-sight direction on the view imageinformation thereby to switch display of the view image information.When the line-of-sight direction is indicated on the view imageinformation, it is difficult to know the relation between theline-of-sight direction indicated on the view image information and anactual direction on the map information. Besides, the view point on themap information and the line-of-sight direction on the view imageinformation need to be operated separately. Therefore, with thisapplication in related art, it is difficult to operate the mapinformation and map related information intuitively and easily.

In light of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a map informationdisplay device, a map information display method and a program capableof intuitively and easily operating the map information and map relatedinformation.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a map information display device including an operating tooldetector for, on a display panel where map information and view imageinformation are displayed, detecting a position and a pointing directionof an operating tool that is in touch with an area corresponding to themap information, and a display controller for controlling display of theview image information in accordance with a view point on the mapinformation indicated by the position of the operating tool and aline-of-sight direction on the map information indicated by the pointingdirection of the operating tool.

The operating tool detector may detect movement of the operating toolthat moves in touch with the area corresponding to the map informationalmost simultaneously with detection of the pointing direction of theoperating tool. The display controller may control the display of theview image information in accordance with the view point on the mapinformation indicated by the position of the operating tool moved andthe line-of-sight direction on the map information indicated by thepointing direction of the operating tool.

The display controller may control the display of the view imageinformation in accordance with the line-of-sight direction on the mapinformation that is identical with a pointing direction of the operatingtool on the display panel.

The display controller may control the display of the view imageinformation in accordance with the line-of-sight direction on the mapinformation defined by a change amount that is obtained by multiplying achange amount in the pointing direction of the operating tool by acoefficient a, the coefficient a being larger than 1. The displaycontroller may control display of the map information in such a mannerthat the map information is rotated by a change amount obtained bymultiplying the change amount of the pointing direction of the operatingtool by a coefficient (1−a).

The display controller may display view point information indicating theline-of-sight direction and the view point on the map information at aposition corresponding to the view point on the map information.

The display controller may display view point information indicating theview point on the map information at a position corresponding to theview point on the map information. The operating tool detector maydetect a first operating tool in touch with an area corresponding to theview point information on the map information and may simultaneouslydetect movement of a second operating tool that moves in touch with thearea corresponding to the map information in such a manner as to draw anarc having a center at a detection area of the first operating tool. Thedisplay controller may control rotational display of the map informationwith the view point information at a rotational center in accordancewith the movement of the second operating tool detected.

According to a second embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a map information display method, comprising the steps of: on adisplay panel where map information and view image information aredisplayed, detecting a position and a pointing direction of an operatingtool that is in touch with an area corresponding to the map information;and controlling display of the view image information in accordance witha view point on the map information indicated by the position of theoperating tool and a line-of-sight direction on the map informationindicated by the pointing direction of the operating tool.

According to a third embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a program for causing a computer to execute the map informationdisplay method according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention.

According to the embodiments of the present invention described above,it is possible to provide a map information display device, a mapinformation display method and a program capable of intuitively andeasily operation of the map information and map related information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an overview of a map information displaydevice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a principal functional structureof the map information display device according to the embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3A is a view illustrating a detection result of an operating tooland a position of the operating tool on a display panel;

FIG. 3B is a view illustrating a detection result of an operating tooland a position of the operating tool on a display panel;

FIG. 3C is a view illustrating a detection result of an operating tooland a position of the operating tool on a display panel;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a map information display methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a display example of map information andview image information;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a display example of movement of the viewpoint;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a display example of change inline-of-sight direction;

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a first modification of the mapinformation display;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a second modification of the mapinformation display; and

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a third modification of the mapinformation display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that,in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elementsthat have substantially the same function and structure are denoted withthe same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of thesestructural elements is omitted.

1. Overview of Map Information Display Device 100

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an overview of a map information displaydevice 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The map information display device 100 according to the embodiment ofthe present invention detects a touch state of an operating tool M suchas a finger of a user with a display panel 101. The map informationdisplay device 100 is a personal computer, a PDA, a car navigationdevice or the like. In the following description, the map informationdisplay device 100 has a built-in type display panel 101, however, themap information display device 100 may be connected to a display panel101 via communication means.

The map information display device 100 detects, on the display panel 101on which map information MI and view image information VI are displayed,a position and a pointing direction of the operating tool M in touchwith an area corresponding to the map information MI. Then, the mapinformation display device 100 controls display of the view imageinformation VI in accordance with a line-of-sight direction on the mapinformation MI indicated by the pointing direction of the operating toolM and the view point on the map information MI indicated by the positionof the operating tool M.

For example, in FIG. 1, when the pointing direction of the operatingtool M is changed on the icon I that indicates the view point on the mapinformation MI, the line-of-sight direction indicated by the icon I′ ischanged, and then, view image information VI1 and view image informationVI2 of the line-of-sight direction prior to and subsequent to change,respectively, are displayed. Here, the pointing direction of theoperating tool M means, for example, a direction pointed out by a fingerwhen the operating tool M is the finger.

Accordingly, the view image information VI in accordance with theline-of-sight direction and the view point indicated by the pointingdirection and the position of the operating tool M on the mapinformation MI is displayed, so that the user can operate the mapinformation MI and the map related information such as view imageinformation VI intuitively and easily.

2. Functional Structure of Map Information Display Device 100

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the principalfunctional structure of the map information display device 100 accordingto the embodiment of the present invention. The map information displaydevice 100 has a display panel 101, an operating tool detector 107, animage generator 109, a display controller 111, a storage 113 and acontroller 115.

The display panel 101 has a function as a touch sensor 103 and a displayunit 105. The touch sensor 103 obtains a touch state of the operatingtool M. The touch sensor 103 is an optical sensor, an electriccapacitance sensor, a pressure sensor or the like. In the followingdescription, it obtains the touch state of the operating tool M based ona light-receiving state of the display panel 101.

The display unit 105 displays, under control of the display controller111, processing results of application, contents and objects and thelike, and particularly displays map information MI, view imageinformation VI and view point icon I.

The map information MI is image information such as city view, land viewinvolving movement and longitude information. The view image informationVI is image information of a picture showing landscapes of building orthe like in view when seeing from a specific position (view point) onthe map information MI in the particular direction (line-of-sightdirection).

The view point icon I is an example of view point information, and anicon indicating the line-of-sight direction and the view point indicatedon the map information MI. Here, an object is an object that forms GUI(graphical user interface), for example, an icon, a button, a thumbnailor the like.

The operating tool detector 107 detects a touch state of the operatingtool M on the display panel 101 using the touch sensor 103. Theoperating tool detector 107 uses the light-receiving state of thedisplay panel 101 as a basis to detect the pointing direction, a toucharea, a touch position and presence or absence of touch of the operatingtool M with the display panel 101. Here, the method for detecting theoperating tool M by the touch sensor 103 will be described in detaillater.

The position (touch position) and the pointing direction of theoperating tool M are defined as the latitude, longitude and direction ofthe map information MI. They are used to indicate the view point andline-of-sight direction on the map information MI.

The image generator 109 generates image data of the view imageinformation VI and the map information MI in accordance with the viewpoint and line-of-sight direction on the map information MI. The imagegenerator 109 reads from the storage 113 the map information MI and viewimage information VI in accordance with the view point and line-of-sightdirection, and outputs them as image data for display on the mapinformation display area to the display controller 111.

For example, when the latitude and longitude of the view point are Laand Ln, respectively, and the line-of-sight direction is north, the mapinformation MI containing the point indicated by the latitude La andlongitude Ln and the view image information VI showing landscapes seenin the north direction from the point are output as image data.

The storage 113 stores data of objects, application programs and mapinformation display programs and the like, particularly stores mapinformation MI and view image information VI. The map information MI isstored associated with the latitude and longitude of the map informationMI, and the view image information VI is stored associated with thelatitude, longitude and direction of the map information MI. Thecontroller 115 controls each part by execution of the map informationdisplay program, and controls the whole operation of the map informationdisplay device 100.

The display controller 111 controls the display panel 101 (display unit105) and displays the map information MI, the view image information VIand the like. The display controller 111 controls display of the viewimage information VI in accordance with the view point on the mapinformation MI indicated by the position of the operating tool M on thedisplay panel 101 and the line-of-sight direction on the map informationMI indicated by the pointing direction of the operating tool M.

Here, the map information display device 100 may have a positionspecifying function to detect the current position of the device, anavigation function for root search and route guide, a communicationfunction to obtain the map information MI, the view image information VIand the like from database on the network.

Here, change in the pointing direction of the operating tool M can bediscriminated from button down, button up, click, double click, touch,drag, drop, flick operations in related art, and is detected in such amanner as not to interfere with these operations.

3. Method for Detecting Operating Tool M

In the display panel 101, RGB pixels and light-receiving sensors (bothnot shown) are arranged in a matrix. The light-receiving sensorsfunction as the touch sensor 103 by receiving light emitted from thedisplay panel 101 and reflected by the operating tool M and obtaining atouch state of the operating tool M based on the light-receiving state.Then, the operating tool detector 107 generates a sensor image S bydigital-processing of an output result of the touch sensor 103.

The operating tool detector 107 calculates a luminance value showing thelight-receiving state corresponding to each pixel based on the sensorimage S and processes the luminance value into a binary value using apredetermined threshold. In the binary processing, the luminance valueof each pixel is classified into the first or second category and thesensor image S areas are divided into the first or second area A1 or A2corresponding the respective categories. The first and second areas A1and A2 correspond to areas of large and small luminance values,respectively, which are specified as the touch area and non-touch areaof the operating tool M.

The operating tool detector 107 uses presence of the first area A1 as abasis to detect presence or absence of touch of the operating tool Mwith the display panel 101. Besides, the operating tool detector 107calculates the center-of-gravity position and area of the first area A1to detect the touch position and touch area of the operating tool M.

Specifically, the operating tool detector 107 specifies the long axisdirection D of the first area A1 thereby to detect the pointingdirection of the operating tool M. The pointing direction of theoperating tool M is defined as a direction to point out the upper partof the display panel 101 in the long axis direction D of the first areaA1. The controller 115 calculates an angle difference between pointingdirections of the operating tool M before and after rotation thereby tocalculate the rotational angle of the operating tool M.

The following description is made about the method for detecting thepointing direction of the operating tool M with reference to FIGS. 3A to3C. FIGS. 3A to 3C are views showing detection results of the operatingtool M and the positions of the operating tool M on the display panel101.

In FIG. 3A, the touch area A1 of the finger end as the operating tool Mis grasped as the elliptic area A1 on the sensor image S. In this case,the operating tool detector 107 specifies the long axis direction D ofthe elliptic area A1 and detects the direction indicating the upper partof the display panel 101 along the specified long axis direction D asthe pointing direction of the operating tool M. Typically, the toucharea A1 of the finger end with the display panel 101 is grasped as anelliptic area A1 in which the finger pointing direction is the long axisdirection D.

In FIG. 3B, the finger end is rotated from the state in FIG. 3A and thetouch area A1′ of the finger end after rotation is grasped on the sensorimage S as an elliptic area A1′. In this case, the operating tooldetector 107 specifies the long axis direction D of the elliptic areaA1′ and detects the direction indicating the upper part of the displaypanel 101 along the specified long axis direction D as the pointingdirection of the operating tool M after rotation. Then, the controller115 uses the angle difference of the pointing directions of theoperating tool M before and after rotation as a basis to calculate therotational angle of the operating tool M.

On the other hand, in FIG. 3C, a touch area A1″ of the finger end isgrasped as an approximately circular area A1″ on the sensor image S. Inthis case, as the operating tool detector 107 may not specify the longaxis direction D of the touch area A1″, the controller 115 judges it asa detection error.

4. Map Information Display Method

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the map information display methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a viewillustrating a display example of the view image information VI and mapinformation MI. FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a display example ofmovement of the view point. FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a displayexample of change of the line-of-sight direction.

In the display panel 101, the map information MI and the view imageinformation VI in accordance with the view point and line-of-sightdirection indicated on the map information MI are displayed. On the mapinformation MI, the view point icon I indicating the indicated viewpoint and line-of-sight direction (direction of arrow) is displayed atthe position corresponding to the view point on the map information MI.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the view image information VI0(picture of postal office, etc.) corresponding to the line-of-sightdirection (north-northwest direction) on the map information MI1 isdisplayed. Accordingly, the user can know the view point andline-of-sight direction on the map information MI1 easily.

In addition, on the map information MI1, a GUI button B1 and the likeare displayed for selection of the map information MI and zooming in andout of the map information MI. Besides, on the view image informationVI, GUI buttons B2 and B3 and the like are displayed for moving of theview image information VI and zooming in and out of the view imageinformation VI.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the operating tool detector 107 detects thetouch state of the operating tool M per detection frame (step S101). Thecontroller 115 determines whether the operating tool M is in touch withthe display panel 101 or not (S103). When the determination result ispositive, the controller 115 performs the processing of S105 and later,while, when the determination result is negative, it goes back to theprocessing of S101.

In step S105, the controller 115 determines whether the operating tool Mis in touch with an area corresponding to the view point icon I or not.When the determination result is positive, the controller 115 performsthe processing of step S107. When the determination result is negative,it performs the processing of step S111 and later.

In step S107, the operating tool detector 107 detects normal operationsof click, drag, drop and flick on the map information MI or view imageinformation VI in the subsequent frame. Then, the controller 115performs processing corresponding to the detected operation (S109).

In step S111, the operating tool detector 107 detects dragging of theview point icon I by the operating tool M on the subsequent frame.Dragging means an operation of moving the operating tool M while it isin touch with an area corresponding to the view point icon I or the likeon the display panel 101. The controller 115 determines whether or notthe position of the operating tool M is moved from the last frame bydragging (S113). When the determination result is positive, thecontroller 115 performs processing of step S115 and later and, when thedetermination result is negative, the processing of step S123 and lateris performed.

In step S115, the controller 115 updates information of the view pointin accordance with the position of the moved operating tool M. Thedisplay controller 111 controls the display panel 101 (display unit 105)to display the view point icon I at the position of the moved operatingtool M (S117).

In accordance with the moved view point, the controller 115 inquires thestorage 113 about the presence of the view image information VIcorresponding to the latitude, longitude and direction of the mapinformation (S119), and when there exists the corresponding view imageinformation VI, it instructs the image generator 109 to update the viewimage information VI. The image generator 109 reads from the storage 113the view image information VI corresponding to the moved view point,generates the image data and outputs it to the display controller 111 sothat the display of the view image information VI is updated on thedisplay panel 101 (S121).

As illustrated in FIG. 6, when the position of the operating tool M ismoved on the map information MI1 by dragging, the view point icon I isdisplayed on the position of the moved operating tool M. Then, if theview image information VI corresponding to the moved view point exists,display of the view image information VI is updated. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 6, the view icon I is moved in the north directionand the view image information VI1 (picture of ×× building, park and thelike) corresponding to the line-of-sight direction (north-northwestdirection) is displayed.

Here, if there exists view image information VI corresponding torespective view points on the moving track in accordance with thecontinuous movement of the position of the operating tool M, display ofthe view image information VI may be updated sequentially on the movingtrack. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the picturesof the postal office, the OO building, the point of intersection, the ××building and the park may be displayed sequentially as view imageinformation VI in accordance with movement of the view point.

In step S123, the operating tool detector 107 detects rotation of theview point icon I by the operating tool M on the following frame. Thecontroller 115 determines whether or not the pointing direction of theoperating tool M is changed from that in the last frame by rotation(S125). When the determination result is positive, the controller 115performs the processing of step S127 and later, while when thedetermination result is negative, it goes back to step S101.

In step S127, the controller 115 updates the information in theline-of-sight direction in accordance with the pointing direction of thechanged operating tool M. Here, the controller 115 updates theline-of-sight direction on the map information MI to match the pointingdirection of the operating tool M. The display controller 111 controlsthe display panel 101 (display unit 105) to display the view point iconI that indicates the changed pointing direction of the operating tool M(S129).

The controller 115 inquires the storage 113 about existence of the viewimage information VI corresponding to the latitude, longitude anddirection of the map information MI in accordance with the changedline-of-sight direction (S131), and when there exists the correspondingview image information VI, it instructs the image generator 109 toupdate the view image information VI. The image generator 109 reads theview image information VI corresponding to the changed line-of-sightdirection from the storage 113, generates the image data and outputs itto the display controller 111 so that display of the view imageinformation VI is updated on the display panel 101 (S133).

As illustrated in FIG. 7, when the pointing direction of the operatingtool M is changed by 60° clockwise rotation on the view point icon I,the view point icon I′ indicating the 60° clockwise changedline-of-sight direction is displayed. Here, the view point icon I′indicates the changed line-of-sight direction on the map information MI1that matches the pointing direction of the operating tool M.

Then, if there exists the view image information VI corresponding to thechanged line-of-sight direction, the display of the view imageinformation VI is updated. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, theview image information VI1 (picture of xx building, park etc.) and theview image information VI2 (picture of ΔΔ building, school etc.)corresponding to the line-of-sight directions (north-northwest andnorth-northeast directions) are displayed as information before andafter change in line-of-sight direction. Accordingly, as theline-of-sight direction on the map information MI matches the pointingdirection of the operating tool M, the user can intuitively indicate theline-of-sight direction on the map information MI.

Here, if in accordance with continuous change of the pointing directionof the operating tool M, there exists the view image information VIcorresponding to each line-of-sight direction during change, display ofthe view image information VI may be updated sequentially during change.For example, in the example of FIG. 7, in change of the line-of-sightdirection, the picture of the xx building, the picture of the park, thepicture of the road, the picture of the school and the picture of the ΔΔbuilding may be displayed sequentially as view image information VI.

Here, when the view image information VI does not exist corresponding tothe changed line-of-sight direction or the moved view point, there is noneed to update display of the view image information VI. Alternatively,predetermined image information may be displayed.

Besides, in the above description, rotation is detected after draggingof the operating tool M, however, dragging may be detected afterdetection of the rotation. With this configuration, movement of theoperating tool M is detected almost simultaneously with detection of thepointing direction of the operating tool M, and then, the user canoperate the change of the position of the view point and change of theline-of-sight direction on the map information MI continuously andeasily.

5. Modifications

FIGS. 8 to 10 are views illustrating first to third modifications of themap information display.

In the above-described embodiment, the line-of-sight direction on themap information MI matches the pointing direction of the operating toolM. In this case, the change range of the pointing direction of theoperating tool M is restricted and sometimes the operability of rotationmay be deteriorated. For example, usually, there is some difficulty in180° rotating of the pointing direction of the finger as the operatingtool M.

Therefore, in the first modification, display of the view imageinformation VI is controlled in accordance with the line-of-sightdirection defined by a change amount obtained by multiplying a changeamount in the pointing direction of the operating tool M by acoefficient a (1< a), not the line-of-sight direction that matches thepointing direction of the operating tool M.

For example, when the coefficient a=2 is given, and as illustrated inFIG. 8, the pointing direction of the operating tool M on the view pointicon I is changed by 30° clockwise rotation, the view point icon I′indicating the line-of-sight direction changed 60° clockwise (30°×2) isdisplayed and the view image information VI2 corresponding to thechanged line-of-sight direction is displayed.

With this configuration, as the line-of-sight direction on the mapinformation MI is defined by a change amount obtained by multiplying achange amount of the pointing direction of the operating tool M by thecoefficient a (1< a), the user can easily indicate the line-of-sightdirection on the map information MI even with slight change in thepointing direction. However, in the first modification, as the pointingdirection does not match the line-of-sight direction, it is sometimesdifficult to indicate the line-of-sight direction by intuitiveoperation.

Therefore, in a second modification, the line-of-sight direction isspecified that is defined by a change amount obtained by multiplying achange amount in the pointing direction of the operating tool M by thecoefficient a (1< a) and the map information MI is rotated by a changeamount obtained by multiplying the change amount in the pointingdirection of the operating tool M by a coefficient (1−a).

For example, when the coefficient a=2 is given, as illustrated in FIG.9, the pointing direction of the operating tool M is changed 30°clockwise on the view point icon I by rotation, and as illustrated bythe arrow MD, the map information MI is rotated −30° clockwise(=30°×(−1)) or 30° counterclockwise. Then, the view point icon I′indicating the line-of-sight direction changed 60° clockwise relative tothe map information MI1 is displayed and the view image information VI2corresponding to the changed line-of-sight direction is displayed.

Here, as the pointing direction of the operating tool M is changed 30°clockwise and the map information MI1 is changed to the map informationMI2 by 30° counterclockwise rotation, the pointing direction of theoperating tool M may be identical to the line-of-sight direction on themap information MI2.

With this configuration, as compared with the case when the view imageinformation VI is displayed corresponding to the line-of-sight directionon the map information MI defined with the change amount obtained bymultiplying the change amount in the pointing direction by thecoefficient a, the user can indicate the line-of-sight direction on themap information MI intuitively.

In the second modification, the line-of-sight direction on the mapinformation MI and the display direction of the map information MI arechanged in accordance with change in the pointing direction of theoperating tool M. However, in the second modification, the line-of-sightdirection on the map information MI is also changed with the displaydirection of the map information MI, and display of the view imageinformation VI is also changed. On the other hand, the user maysometimes desire change of the display direction of the map informationMI while keeping display of the view image information VI.

Therefore, in a third modification, there is proposed an operation tochange the display direction of the map information MI with use of thefirst and second operating tools M1 and M2. Here, the first operatingtool M1 and the second operating tool M2 correspond, for example, tosecond and first fingers of the user or the first finger and thumb ofthe user.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, while the view point icon I is indicated bythe first operating tool M1 which is, for example, second finger, thesecond operating tool M2, which is the first finger, is moved on thedisplay panel 101 in such a manner as to draw an arc on the mapinformation MI1. Here, if the arc is drawn 30° counterclockwise, the 30°counterclockwise rotated map information MI2 is displayed as illustratedby the arrow MD. Here, like in the first modification, the displaydirection of the map information MI1 may be changed by the change amountobtained by multiplying the change amount in pointing direction of thesecond operating tool M2 with the coefficient of 1 or more. Accordingly,the user can change the display direction of the map information MIwhile keeping display of the view image information VI.

In addition, change in display direction of the map information MI maybe combined with change methods of the line-of-sight direction describedwith reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. With this configuration, the user canchange the line-of-sight direction on the map information MI and changethe display direction on the map information MI sequentially and easily.

6. Conclusion

As described above, according to the embodiments of the presentinvention, the map information display device 100 detects, on thedisplay panel 101 on which the map information MI and the view imageinformation VI are displayed, the position and the pointing direction ofthe operating tool M in touch with the area corresponding to the mapinformation MI. Then, the map information display device 100 controlsdisplay of the view image information VI in accordance with the viewpoint on the map information MI indicated by the position of theoperating tool M and the line-of-sight direction on the map informationMI indicated by the pointing direction of the operating tool M.

Accordingly, as the view image information VI in accordance with theview point and the line-of-sight direction indicated by the position andpointing direction of the operating tool M is displayed on the mapinformation MI, the user can operate the map information MI and maprelated information such as view image information VI intuitively andeasily.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the optical-type touchsensor 103 is used to detect the touch state of the operating tool M.However, the sensor may be an electric capacitance sensor, a pressuresensor or any other touch sensor.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the pointing directionof the operating tool M is detected based on the touch state of theoperating tool M. However, the pointing direction of the operating toolM may be detected based on the touch state and proximity state of theoperating tool M. In this case, for example, sensor image as an outputresult of a touch/proximity sensor may be processed into three valuesand the touch area, proximity area and non-touch proximity area of theoperating tool M may be specified. Then, the gravity center positions ofthe proximity area and touch area may be used as a basis to detect adirection toward the center of gravity of the touch area from the centerof gravity of the proximity area as the pointing direction of theoperating tool M.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus comprising:an acquisition unit configured to acquire a result of detection of afinger position and a finger pointing direction of a finger in a displayof a first display area, wherein the finger pointing direction acquiredby the acquisition unit is based on a direction of a long axis of atouch area of the finger on a touch detector; and a display control unitconfigured to: control display of first image view information on thefirst display area; control display of second image view informationcorresponding to the finger position and the finger pointing directionin the first image view information on a second display area; and changethe display of the second image view information in response to a changeof the detected finger position and a line-of-sight direction indicatedby the detected finger pointing direction in the first display area,wherein a view direction in the second display area is based on thedetected finger pointing direction in the first display area.
 2. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thedisplay control unit is configured to display an icon having a pointingindicator which indicates the finger pointing direction.
 3. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theacquisition unit is configured to acquire the result of detection of thefinger position and the finger pointing direction on a touch screen. 4.An information processing method, comprising: acquiring, by anacquisition unit, a result of detection of a finger position and afinger pointing direction of a finger in a display of a first displayarea, wherein the finger pointing direction acquired by the acquisitionunit is based on a direction of a long axis of a touch area of thefinger on a touch detector; controlling, by a display control unit,display of first image view information on the first display area;controlling, by the display control unit, display of second image viewinformation corresponding to the finger position and the finger pointingdirection in the first image view information on a second display area;and changing the display of the second image view information inresponse to a change of the detected finger position and a line-of-sightdirection indicated by the detected finger pointing direction in thefirst display area, wherein a view direction in the second display areais based on the detected finger pointing direction in the first displayarea.
 5. The information processing method according to claim 4, whereinthe display control unit is configured to display an icon having apointing indicator which indicates the finger pointing direction.
 6. Theinformation processing method according to claim 4, wherein the fingerposition and the finger pointing direction are detected on a touchscreen.
 7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device encodedwith computer-executable instructions that, when executed by aprocessing device, perform an information processing method comprising:acquiring a result of detection of a finger position and a fingerpointing direction of a finger in a display of a first display area,wherein the finger pointing direction acquired by the acquisition unitis based on a direction of a long axis of a touch area of the finger ona touch detector; controlling display of first image view information onthe first display area; controlling display of second image viewinformation corresponding to the finger position and the finger pointingdirection in the first image view information on a second display area;and changing the display of the second image view information inresponse to a change of the detected finger position and a line-of-sightdirection indicated by the detected finger pointing direction in thefirst display area, wherein a view direction in the second display areais based on the detected finger pointing direction in the first displayarea.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device as definedin claim 7, wherein the finger position and the finger pointingdirection are detected on a touch screen.
 9. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit is furtherconfigured to acquire a result of detection of a finger rotation andwherein the display control unit is further configured to controldisplay of the image view information in response to the detected fingerrotation.
 10. The information processing method according to claim 4,wherein acquiring further includes acquiring a result of detection of afinger rotation and wherein controlling display of image viewinformation further includes controlling display of the image viewinformation in response to the detected finger rotation.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage device as defined in claim 7,wherein acquiring further includes acquiring a result of detection of afinger rotation and wherein controlling display of image viewinformation further includes controlling display of the image viewinformation in response to the detected finger rotation.
 12. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thedisplay control unit controls display of the second image viewinformation based on a change amount obtained by multiplying a changeamount in the finger movement on the first display area.
 13. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein thedisplay control unit controls display of the second image viewinformation based on a change amount obtained by multiplying a changeamount in the finger pointing direction.
 14. The information processingapparatus according to claim 13, wherein the display control unitcontrols display of the second image view information based on a changeamount obtained by multiplying a change amount in the finger pointingdirection by a coefficient (1−a).
 15. The information processingapparatus according to claim 13, wherein the display control unitcontrols display of the second image view information based on a changeamount obtained by multiplying a change amount in the finger pointingdirection by a coefficient larger than
 1. 16. The information processingapparatus according to claim 13, wherein the change of the fingerpointing direction is a dragging.
 17. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unitcontrols display of the second image view information based on a changeamount obtained by multiplying a change amount in the finger positionand finger pointing direction.